Visionaries
Charlie Jackson: Bringing Farms to Market
By Peter Boucher Charlie Jackson found a simple answer to the complex problems of regional agriculture. He founded the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project in 1995 to create new markets for mountain farmers who had lost their cash crop. Tobacco had sustained farms for nearly half a century, but in the late ‘90s, farms were rapidly…
Read MoreOnly God Should Move Mountains
By Nolen Nychay For Reverend Ryan Bennett, creation care is about encouraging environmental responsibility through the Biblical principles of stewardship. At Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tenn., Bennett uses the philosophy “love the Creator, love His creations” to discuss the looming threat of mountaintop removal, spurring a rising interest — especially amongst younger age…
Read MoreFour Projects on Fourth Creek
By Hallie Carde Bob and Jill Kinser claim to have the best water around, and they’re quick to offer a glass to anyone to prove it. In fact, the only thing more apparent than the Kinsers’ hospitality is their hardworking nature. Looking for a place in the country to keep horses, the couple moved to…
Read MoreConsiderate Consulting: Andrew Grigsby’s Vision of Sustainability
By Brian Sewell Andrew Grigsby is a leading sustainability consultant with more than 25 years of experience in residential construction and green building. But ask him what motivates his work to foster a more ecologically and socially sane world, and he’ll likely go back to his upbringing in Culpeper, Va. “It’s just how I was…
Read MoreTouring Coal Country’s Past
By Molly Moore In 1978, student Doug Estepp was poking around in the West Virginia University library when he came across a newspaper headline describing the 1920 Matewan shootout — a violent episode in the dispute between coal companies and pro-union miners. Although Estepp grew up near Matewan in Mingo County, W.Va., it was the…
Read MoreVirginia Tech Student Works to Keep Campus Green
By Nolen Nychay For Virginia Tech student Nneka Sobers, environmental activism is more than an interest — it is a passion that empowers her to promote positive change wherever she goes. Sobers became involved with her university’s Student Environmental Coalition early in her college career, eventually becoming a liaison for the student body’s environmental interests…
Read MoreLenny Kohm: Creating a Better Appalachia
By Molly Moore At Appalachian Voices, the nonprofit organization that publishes The Appalachian Voice, it’s impossible to think of regional visionaries and leaders without considering one of our own — Senior Campaign Advisor Lenny Kohm. His journey into environmental work began on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and Canada…
Read MoreOn the Right Side of the Law
By Molly Moore From the gallery of the Kentucky State Capitol, lawyer Wes Addington and a group of women from eastern Kentucky — mostly widows of coal miners — watched the Kentucky House pass a bill expanding legal and safety protections for state miners. The women had advocated tirelessly in support of the law, and…
Read MoreKen Hechler: An Epoch of Activism
By Rachel Ellen Simon For the vast majority of his nearly 100 years, Ken Hechler has been one of the mountains’ strongest advocates. A Democrat from West Virginia, Ken Hechler served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 18 straight years, beginning in 1958. During this time, Hechler championed the abolition of strip mining and…
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